NEW YORK – Three-time Olympic gold medalist Mal Whitfield on Monday announced that he will donate his 1952 800m gold medal to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame. Whitfield will make the presentation March 1 in ceremonies at the 2002 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, held March 1-2 at the Armory Track & Field Center on 168th Street in Washington Heights. The Hall of Fame will reopen at the Armory in 2003.

Whitfield, 77, made the announcement at a meeting of the Track Writers Association of Metropolitan New York.

“I thought, maybe what I need to do before I give up this whole thing is to try to let young people see what an Olympic gold medal looks like,” said Whitfield, who displayed the medal at the luncheon. “For 12 straight years I trained at the Armory with (coach) Joe Yancey and the New York Pioneers. I am willing to donate this medal to the Armory, and I am doing that in hopes that young people will have a vision. My vision goes beyond track & field .It has taken me to 187 countries.”

The 800-meter Olympic gold medalist in 1948 and 1952 and 4x400m relay gold medalist in 1948, Whitfield was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974. During his competitive days, Whitfield – or “Marvelous Mal,” as he was called – trained and competed at the Armory. Whitfield will join fellow members of the 1952 Olympic Team who will be honored during a special presentation during the Indoor Championships in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1952 Team.

Born October 11, 1924 in Bay City, Texas, Whitfield held his share of world records. But first and foremost, he was an athlete who ran to win rather than running for time. Competitive at any distance from 220 yards to the mile, Whitfield put together a record that included two Olympic 800m crowns, six world records and eight National AAU titles, six of them outdoors.

A sergeant in the U.S. Air Force while attending Ohio State, Whitfield won national collegiate 800 yard/800 meter titles in 1948 and 1949. He made his first Olympic team in 1948, taking the 800 meters in 1:49.2, an Olympic record, and placing third in the 400. He garnered a second gold medal in the 4x400m relay, which ran a world-record time of 3:10.4. In 1952, he repeated his 800m victory, again in 1:49.2, and earned a silver medal in the 4x400.

Whitfield narrowly missed making the 1956 Olympic team while a student at Cal State Los Angeles. The 1954 Sullivan Award winner as the top amateur athlete in the U.S., he later worked for the U.S. State Department in Africa. He was elected to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1988. Earlier this month he was inducted into the Millrose Games Hall of Fame.

For more information on the 2002 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, visit the USATF Web site, www.usatf.org.